Tag: Connie Willis

Acquiring the Subterranean Press edition of Connie Willis’s short story collection, The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories, intersects nicely with a pair my current book collecting goals. First, I’m always on the lookout to find books by Connie Willis. Second, Subterranean Press does a great job with each of their publications, and for any small press aficionado, this is one of the best publishers out there.

For many years I owned just one book by Willis. Up until sometime in 2024, that book sat gathering dust somewhere in my bookshelves. I think I even considered purging it, despite it being a hardcover edition in great shape. I needed more shelf space, and wasn’t sure if I’d ever read it. Then, in 2024 I bought a pair of Willis’s books: the Subterranean Press edition of All Seated on the Ground, and the Ballantine Books edition of All Clear. Although I own just less than 10 percent of Subterranean Press output, these days if I can acquire another one of their books to my library it’s a memorable event.

The Winds of Marble Arch, is a collection of 23 of Willis’s short stories. Published by Subterranean Press back in 2007, this novella may well have been my first foray into Willis’s fiction. I found it quite funny, so I started looking for more of her books. Most are now out of print, so finding any her books has often been challenging.

The Subterranean Press edition of this book is a hefty volume. Within its 700 pages, ranging from short stories to novellas, there’s more than enough short piece of fiction to savor. She’s another person born to write, and I wish I’d started buying her books sooner. Still, discovering another “new” writer is always a great experience.

Many years ago I bought my first Connie Willis book, To Say Nothing of the Dog. Time passed, and I came across a novella of hers called All Seated on the Ground. It was a quick read, but a funny and brilliant story. Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for books by Connie Willis. This weekend I was in Austin, and found a couple of her novels that I didn’t have; well, there was a third, but I am too picky, and as the cover had a long scratch, I reluctantly put it back on the shelf. To be honest, I’ve mainly been looking for Blackout and Doomsday Book. Along the way I’ve come across several unexpected titles, and none have disappointed me so far.

The Road to Roswell (Del Rey, 2023) I started reading this book on the way back from Austin. It’s a funny alien abduction story, starting in the town of Roswell, New Mexico. Roswell is known as a site of an supposedly alien ship crash landing in 1947. I’ve been to Roswell a couple of times on the way to other places, and they do sell their alien landing story as a major part of the town. In this book, which takes place during a wedding at a Roswell alien festival, there’s a real alien kidnapping. I read this book in a couple of sittings. For the most part, I enjoyed it, though I found the ending too abrupt. A note in the book states that Willis is working on another time-travel novel, so that’s some good news.

Crosstalk (Del Rey, 2016) I’d never heard of this book, but it seems to be a take on the burgeoning world of social media. The novel was published in 2016, back when facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. were all the rage, and the rise of influencers dominated media. As such, it’s maybe an attempt to tap into the pulse of the current state of society, and extrapolate this in ways on SF writers are able. So, if I dive into the book, it will be interesting to compare it to the present, a decade after it was published. The world has changed many times since then, but social media and influencers sadly remain a part of it. I found a nice copy of the hardcover edition on my recent Austin trip. Not high on my “To Read” stack, since I don’t care much about social media, though looking back a decade will be strange, given the rise of social media since that time.

All About Emily (Subterranean Press, 2011). A novella, so in essence, a short novel. Illustrated by J. K. Potter. One of a handful of books I recently bought from Lawrence Person’s Lame Excuse Books. This book was limited to 400 signed and numbered copies, plus an unknown number of unsigned copies. My book is signed by Willis, and numbered 176 out of 400. Subterranean Press has published a fair number of Willis’s books, and they always do a bang-up job with each edition.